Apple Park: The Complete Story Behind Apple's Futuristic New Campus

Apple employees will begin moving into a new campus in Cupertino, California this month.
The new Apple headquarters, named Apple Park, is a single ring, about a mile in circumference, set in a large campus that will be covered in plants and trees.

Late Apple CEO Steve Jobs once said that the new campus was "a shot at building the best office building in the world."

It will house 13,000 employees on over 2.8 million square feet of office space. Apple employees will enjoy fruit trees, a massive fitness center, and a workspace that's been carefully overseen by Jony Ive, Apple's chief design officer.

The Apple HQ has been compared to a UFO and the Pentagon — and after about $5 billion in costs, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, it's ready to open.

Here's a look at Apple Park over the past five years, and what still needs to be done:

SOLöMay 21, 2017

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Employees start moving in next month. "The main building, parking structure, theatre, and fitness center are under construction," said a progress report delivered to the Cupertino City Council on March 7. "Occupancy for main building will begin in April and phased to end of 2017. Phase 2 and ancillary building expected to be completed by 2018." (Apple)

Here's a plus for fitness fanatics at Apple: There will be miles of jogging and cycling trails across the campus, and bikes on site to help employees get around. There's also a gym and fitness center that cost over $70 million to build, according to public permits.

The building will be uncommonly environmentally-friendly. Apple says it will be the largest naturally ventilated building in the world — meaning that it won't need air conditioning or heating for most of the year.

Many of those trees, especially inside the ring, are going to be fruit trees. In this diagram, the purple dots are plum trees, the orange dots are apricot tree, the brown dots are olive trees, the red dots are persimmon trees. And of course, the yellow dots are apple trees.